Just the bill

The proposed location for this new seven-story building is a real rarity in our area: an undeveloped lot at 1304 Middlefield Road. Although you may not know this lot by its address, you probably do know it. This is the place where, every year at Christmastime, a local church (Rise City Church, which sits directly across Middlefield Road from this lot) sets up a walk-through recreation of the town of Bethlehem, complete with costumed performers and live animals. For the remainder of the year the lot sits empty, except for a few stray pieces of the Bethlehem A.D. set.

Bethlehem A.D. will rise again in Redwood City this December — its 30th anniversary — but if the housing development goes ahead, the year 2022 will likely be its last, at least at this location. While I hope Rise City Church finds another place to hold their popular annual event, it at least seems fitting that Bethlehem, where, 2,000 years ago a poor young family unable to find proper housing had to settle for a stable, may be making way for an affordable housing development.

Although city approval is never guaranteed, thanks to Senate Bill 35 this project seems more likely than most to make it to the finish line, and quickly. SB 35 was designed to streamline the construction of housing in California cities and counties that fall short of the housing goals specified by their RHNA numbers. Although Redwood City appears to have done better than most in meeting its current goals overall, it seems to be falling just slightly short when it comes to housing for those in the low-income category (and more substantially short for those earning at or below the very-low level).

Thanks to the city’s slight shortfall, SB 35 mandates an expedited approval process for any projects that would help make it up, as this proposal most certainly would. There are a handful of requirements the project must meet, including that the land must be zoned for residential use (it is), at least 50% of the units must be designated for below-market housing (all of the units in this project are so designated), and that the development must be multiunit housing, rather than single-family homes (check). By meeting all of the state-mandated criteria, SB 35 obligates Redwood City to approve the project within 60 days (if the project contained more than 150 housing units, which it does not, the city would have had 90 days to approve it).

I, for one, plan to watch this project make its way through the process with great interest. I’ve watched countless others, and they typically take far more than 60 days to gain approval (or denial), especially given the city’s current huge backlog. But SB 35 apparently enables this particular project to jump the line, and gain approval before many others.

Fortunately, it’s an attractive project. Ninety-four units of affordable housing, ranging in size from studios to two-bedroom apartments, within easy walking distance of downtown Redwood City and Costco, is nothing to sneeze at. Although the project has only one parking space for every two apartments — 48 in total — and is slightly over a mile’s walk from Redwood City’s transit center, SamTrans runs buses up and down Middlefield Road, with a bus stop right in front of the proposed development.

SB 9 might be the current talk of the town, but keep an eye out for SB 35. It, and not SB 9, just might make the real difference when it comes to our housing woes.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.